Eugene M. DiMarco, D.O., M.S. is a board certified ophthalmologist. He received his undergraduate degree from LaSalle University in Philadelphia. He then attended graduate school at Drexel University in Philadelphia where he earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering/Science and Toxicology. After completing graduate school, Dr. DiMarco continued on to medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine where he became a doctor of medicine. He completed his internship and residency at the Metropolitan Hospital System in Springfield, Pennsylvania.

Dr. DiMarco is an attending surgeon in the department of Ophthalmology at Atlantic City Medical Center and Atlanticare Surgery Center. In his efforts to maintain a high level of proficiency, Dr. DiMarco serves as Clinical Instructor of the Ophthalmology Clinic and is an active member of the Peri-Operative and Laser Committee at the Atlantic City Medical Center.

Dr. DiMarco has lectured nationally and is the inventor of the "DiMarco Forceps". He is a member of numerous professional societies including the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and Co-Chairman for the Committee on Ophthalmology for the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association.

Local
Doc Invents Instrument for Cataract Surgery

Last
year the FDA approved a new intraocular lens for the surgical treatment
of cataracts. The Mentor MemoryLens® is unique
because it is rolled into a tight cylinder and chilled before surgery.
It gently unfolds once it is implanted into the warmth of the eye.
This is the only lens in the world with this thermodynamic property,
which makes small-insurance cataract surgery faster and safer.

The
first MemoryLens implantation in New Jersey was performed on an Atlantic City
resident at the AtlantiCare Surgery Center by Dr. Eugene M. DiMarco
in January 1998. DiMarco also designed an instrument
specifically for the implantation of the MemoryLens. The DiMarco
forceps makes insertion safer and faster than with other forceps
and requires only a 3 mm incision.

DiMarco
demonstrated his surgical technique at last year's American Academy
of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans. More than 1,000
ophthalmologists from all over the world were in attendance.

Cataracts,
caused by a clouding of the lens in the eye, can be treated by surgically
removing the clouded lens and implanting an artificial one.
Cataract surgery is the most common surgery performed in the U.S.
Cataract surgery is 97 percent successful, and in cases where no
other eye disease is present, vision can be 100 percent restored.
The first MemoryLens recipient now has 20/20 vision in one eye and
20/25 in the other, according to DiMarco.

The
MemoryLens currently accounts for about five percent of the intraocular
lens market in the U.S., but is gaining in popularity.

"I've
done a couple hundred MemoryLens implantations in the past year,"
DiMarco says. "It is the number one intraocular lens
in Europe, and I believe it will soon be one of the most popular
in the U.S."